Welcome to the home of two 24/7 all-a cappella Internet radio stations: A Cappella Always
and A Cappella Holiday. Since August 2001, I've been playing some of the most exciting, dynamic, fun,
sing-along, remarkable arrangements of contemporary, doo-wop and barbershop/Sweet Adeline
a cappella music... featuring groups like
The Bobs, The Blenders, Rockapella, The House Jacks, Tonic Sol-Fa, The Exboyfriends, m*pact,
The Coats, the Nylons, and many more!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

I've been very lax about updating the blog. But adding music regularly... so keep tuning in, and I'll try to get caught up with some updates here. :-) Thanks, as always, for listening!

Monday, December 03, 2007

Three new holiday songs from the Liberty Voices (arranged by the legendary Derric Johnson): "Christmas Time Is Here," "Mary's Boy Child" and "The Hallelujah Chorus," all from Christmas in Velvet: Volume V.

Friday, November 30, 2007

New tracks over the last few weeks:

- From Brazil's talented BR6, I've added three gorgeous tracks: "Waters of March/Rhapsody in Blue," "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and the layered, rich "instrumental" piece "Pato Preto." All are from their album Here To Stay: Gershwin & Jobim.

- From Brian Free & Assurance comes a traditional, stirring "Foundation Medley," off their Live in New York City.

- Off the 2006 Harmony Sweepstakes disc, listen for the live recording of Clockwork performing Radiohead's "Creep." Talk about building to a crescendo... they really go there.

- Realtime, the 2005 International Quartet Champions of the Barbershop Harmony Society, bring us a solid Barbershop track: "Waltz for Debby." It's from their CD Ain't That a Kick. (Thanks, Brett!)

- And finally, one of my favorite groups ever, the 17th Avenue All-Stars, delivers three awesome cuts from their disc Blend. Listen for a rocking "Something About You," a spot-on "Good Vibrations" and "My Best Friend's Girl."

And over on a A Cappella Holiday, I've added Daniel Gillis' performance of "The First Noel," as arranged by Joe Johnson. And still more holiday music to come!!

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Great news! I upgraded the sound quality on A Cappella Holiday today-- now both stations play at CD quality. Hurrah!

There's also some great new holiday music up: from Sean Altman and the GrooveBarbers, off their new CD Glory, listen for "Angels We Have Heard On High," "Jingle Bells," "Oh Christmas Tree" and that classic "I Have A Little Dreidel." (It's so great to be able to play some holiday music that isn't just Christmas songs!)

I also am playing three tracks from The Standards: "Let Ring Out The Bells," a peppy cover of "Little Saint Nick" and "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." All off their disc A Night To Remember.

I've also set up a new way for groups to add music to the station: you can now upload tracks directly to me, instead of sending a CD or dealing with email. So if you're in an a cappella group, I'd love to play your stuff...

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

A Cappella Holiday temporarily off the air for a few hours while we do some maintenance and get it fixed up. Check in later tonight or tomorrow for your fave holiday tunes!

The Backstreet Boys recorded an a cappella version of "All I Have To Give" back in 2001-- I just found it and like it, so it went up, too!

Finally, and this one's tricky, a Russian group whose name I can't type recorded an a cappella track with a title I can't type... off their album whose name, you guessed, it, I can't type on this keyboard. :-) Check out their site at http://www.turetsky.ru/ ...I wish I knew what any of those names are in English (anyone?)! Oh well. In the meantime, while I'm trying to figure that out, I am enjoying listening to the track!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Hi all, It's been a while since I've posted updates but I'm trying to get things freshened up for the holidays-- especially looking to get some fresh holiday music in place on A Cappella Holiday this year.

But in the meantime I've made a big change which I hope you'll like.

Since the beginning of A Cappella Always, back in August 2001, I have never been incredibly satisfied with the sound quality. A cappella music often has quiet passages and tight, razor-sharp harmonies... subtleties which were often lost because of the scratchy, "lo-fi" way the station was being broadcast. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't terrific, either.

Due to limitations of the technology I have been using to broadcast A Cappella Always and A Cappella Holiday, I couldn't do much to improve the sound quality. Until now.

I've changed the station so the the quality of the broadcast is much, much better. This change also requires that you have a broadband connection (like DSL, a cable modem or just listening to the station at work or school) but I think that requirement is worth it. Back in 2001, broadband connections were expensive and uncommon... these days, even my 67-year-old Dad has a $19.95 DSL connection coming into his house. So I don't think this is a big limitation.

As of today, A Cappella Always is on the new higher-quality feed, and I'll be changing over A Cappella Holiday in the next few weeks as I add fresh holiday music to the mix.

Thanks you for your continued support and listening!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Just added tracks from Quicksand, from the Penny Loafers of U Penn. Listen up for "Your Ex-Lover is Dead," "Keeping, " "Chocolate," and an anguished cover (in a good way!) of "Because of You."

By the way, in December, the Penny Loafers are traveling to Beijing, China to sing at the Greenpeace International Charity Concert. Help offset the $10k cost of airfare by purchasing their album!

Then, turn your ears to long-time favorites Fourth Avenue and their just-released CD High Energy Harmony. Listen for "What I Like About You" mashed up with "Do You Love Me," as well as "Fast Track," "Shut De Do," "Footloose" and the classic "There's a Change In My Life."

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

One more very fun track-- a super-country-fied version of Sugar Ray's "Fly," from Three Men and a Tenor... these guys are clearly having a lot of fun with the audience in this live recording.

Monday, October 22, 2007

A new song online from Peter "Pikey" Butler, performing in France: "Suddenly," in a classic doo-wop arrangement.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Yipes! Just found out my posts from earlier this year weren't coming through-- nuts. Oh well, the music's been playing, it's just here on the site that you didn't see the updates. You know, I love the Internet, but why does it have to be on computers?! :-)